Over the past several months, I’ve noticed the rise of two troubling trends in the leadership space. While much of the focus these days is on the exponential rise and growth of AI, these other two trends will certainly play a bigger role in determining the kind of impact leaders will have on their organizations in the months and years ahead, and no doubt with it, how to address the current transformation to the way we work. I explore these two trends in this latest edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. I hope you’ll check it out as this is an important issue every leader needs to be mindful of if they want to be successful not just in the short-term, but over the long term as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Bke4wZNsTfvCCnjVCGAL9

After the murder of George Floyd, the world seemed to rise up collectively to demand an end to racial inequality. And while many organizations openly spoke about commitments to improve racial and gender equality within their workforce, the situation hasn’t improved. In fact, in some cases, it’s actually gotten worse. So how do we move past performative efforts to genuine action to overcome persisting racial and gender inequalities in today’s workplaces? That’s a conversation I’m eager to have with my guest in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe, Dr. Tina Opie. Tina is an Associate Professor of Management at Babson College and a well-regarded thought leader in the field of organizational behaviour. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Business Insider, O Magazine, Essence Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review. In fact, Tina’s podcast episode “Lead with Authenticity” was selected as one of Harvard Business Review's Most Influential and Innovative articles from Harvard Business Review’s first century. Tina is also the co-author of “Shared Sisterhood – How To Take Collective Action For Racial And Gender Equity At Work”, which serves as the focus of this episode. I know for many people discussing racial and gender inequality can be uncomfortable, which is why I wanted to have this conversation with Tina – to start that conversation in the hopes it will lessen the discomfort so others can start having it in their workplaces. After all, a problem will not go away if we continue to ignore it. And being a leader means being willing to have tough conversations, and not just those you’re comfortable with having. I want to strongly encourage everyone to take the time to listen to this episode to learn what each of us can do to overcome racial and gender inequalities in our workplace. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4DFOwU4u5n2QUJS8Q4un6v?si=a5d8e91fda8e4a73 Noteworthy links: * Learn more about Tina’s work here: drtinaopie.com * Buy Tina and Beth’s book “Shared Sisterhood” on Amazon*. * Listen to "Why Leadership Should Be Hard | Leadership Espresso Shot 29" *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Last month, I was invited to speak to a group of European leaders about leadership competency and vulnerability. As part of the discussion, I shared a story about some recent decisions returning Disney CEO Bob Iger has made and what we can learn from them in terms of how leaders should address the current economic and organizational challenges many are grappling with today. Since then, I’ve read news reports that demonstrate leaders and their organizations are continuing to face this same challenge that undoubtedly will have long-term repercussions on their organization’s ability to adapt, evolve, and grow. So for this Leadership Espresso Shot, I’d like to share this story about Disney, along with a set of powerful questions leaders need to be asking themselves to ensure their decisions and efforts are not focused on strategies for short-term gains at the expense of long-term growth and success. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to give this episode a listen as I’m sure it will challenge your assumptions and maybe even some of the decisions you might be making right now. But it will also give you some much needed clarity for where you should be putting the focus of your leadership right now to ensure the collective success of your team and organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0PtmfaXMaZkRUHg00gI7QG?si=354a9f8d672c479d

Rising employee stress levels and employee burnout are becoming a worrisome trend in today’s workplaces. And yet, despite the wellness economy being estimated to have a value of over $4 trillion, little if any traction is being made on resolving this mental and physical health crisis. Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom as my guest on this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe has a prescription that any leader and organization can apply to create a healthier, happier, and more resilient workforce. Dr, Richard Safeer is the Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being for Johns Hopkins Medicine where he leads the Healthy at Hopkins employee health and well-being strategy. He also serves on the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insight Council and previously served on the board of directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. In his book, “A Cure for the Common Company – A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce”, Richard shares a simple, but powerful approach for how any organization can address the current workplace health crisis while continuing to achieve your organizational goals. Over the course of our conversation, Richard and I discuss: * What organizations are getting wrong in their efforts to address employee wellness. * Some simple measures leaders should employ to change the social climate in their organization so it better supports employee wellness and resilience. * What are norms and how they impact employee well-being and our efforts to improve working conditions. * What leaders need to be doing to create a well-being culture in their organization. * Obstacles leaders should be mindful of that can impede their efforts to create a well-being culture. As my background is in the medical sciences, it was truly a pleasure to speak with Richard about this timely subject. And it’s especially encouraging how the ‘prescription’ he shares to build a well-being culture can be employed by any leader in any organization. Given how employee stress and burnout is a growing issue, I strongly encourage you to check out this interview to get some ideas on where to begin on finding a solution to this costly workplace problem. https://open.spotify.com/episode/56WYALsuX73vSVS2IPi89L?si=de60fad37c374336 Noteworthy links: * Buy Richard’s book “A Cure for the Common Company” on Amazon*. * Learn more about Richard’s work: richardsafeer.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

It seems like every day there’s another news report of yet another company mandating employees return to their office, another report of new findings about the consequences of rising employee anxiety and burnout, and more reports warning about the ever impending arrival of another economic downturn. Against that backdrop, I had the pleasure to sit down with a few friends as a guest on their podcast, as well as conversations with various leaders and leadership experts, to talk about these various issues and what it means about the future of work. In this latest episode of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I make the case that what driving all these headlines in our news feeds is a lack of compassion in leadership, but that there’s still hope as we only need to embrace the innate behaviours we’re all hard-wired to express. Take a listen to this episode from my podcast and get inspired to bring more compassion to your leadership to help your employees and your organization at large to succeed. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5omqvHUrfxbaPvEIBX0ovc?si=cb315f504c0d44d6

Navigating change is a reality every leader has to face, and yet despite this truth, 70% of change initiatives end in failure. While we might think this high failure rate reflects a technical deficiency in leaders, Erika Andersen, my guest for this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, makes the case that this reflects our innate drive for stability. And only once we adjust this mindset can we effectively lead and navigate change in our organization. Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching and consulting firm that focuses on leader readiness, and a columnist for Forbes. She’s also the author of four best-selling books, including “Leading So People Will Follow” which I spoke with Erika about in episode #12 of my podcast. In this episode, I welcome Erika back to talk about her latest book, “Change From The Inside Out - Making You, Your Team, and Your Organization Change-Capable”. Over the course of this episode, Erika and I discuss: * How do we shift our mindset from seeing change as being costly and weird to being easy and rewarding. * A simple, but powerful question that will help create clarity and a sense of direction. * The one thing leaders are not addressing that’s not only fuelling organizational resistance but also ensuring a greater likelihood for failure. * How to build a “change team” that can oversee and help drive the change initiative forward as things progress and evolve. * How to make our new outlook and understanding of change stick to embrace future changes and adaptations. It’s a refreshing and insightful look at change and what leaders should be doing to be more effective change drivers. I hope you'll check it out and let me know about your challenges when dealing with change in your organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/57KWUxvBtrq8rSUuPNOQb3?si=ea87f4f5e9504707 Noteworthy links: * Buy Erika’s book “Change From The Inside Out” on Amazon.* * Listen to my interview with Erika about her book “Leading So People Will Follow” *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past several months I’ve had some interesting conversations with leaders who attended one of my keynotes or workshops. In particular, what was noteworthy was this common thread underlining each of these conversations. Whether it was a middle-level manager or an executive from the C-suite, in each of these interactions I couldn’t help but note the sense of self-doubt these leaders expressed about their continued ability to lead. Of course, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering what we’ve all had to endure the past two years and now in the face of an ongoing tug-of-war over what the future of work will look like between employers and their employees. While change and uncertainty has been present for several years now, as it many other things, the pandemic has only served to magnify them. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – so long as you view this sense of self-doubt about your ability to lead through the right lens. To that end, in this latest Leadership Espresso Shot I share four simple measures leaders can take to help them overcome  self-doubt about their ability to lead, something that as I’ve seen first hand becomes more pronounced when we’re facing uncertainty and radical change. I hope you’ll check it out and let me know how you’ve dealt with those moments of self-doubt about the ability to lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SJHY42OWKDMJ0V1kUWN2Y?si=14c3960fce854535

The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time because of what it represents – a chance for new beginnings, to start something new, and build on successes gained over the past year. For my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, it also means the start of another season of speaking with people with fascinating insights and perspectives on the challenges of leadership today. But before looking ahead to who and what I’ll be talking about in upcoming episodes of my leadership podcast, I wanted to look back at the past 12 months and share my five favourite guest moments and insights from 2022. Now this isn’t one of those Top 5 list that we usually see around this time of the year. Instead, these are moments from the many conversations I had over the course of last year that really stuck with me and I think deserve a second listen, especially in light of various on-going debates and issues around leading today's organizations. Although I’m going to leave it to you to listen to this episode to hear what these favourite moments were, I do want to give a shout-out here to those guests who provided these fascinating insights – Tom Peters and Jim Kouzes, Stephen MR Covey, Dr. Marlette Jackson, Laura Kriska, and Faisal Hoque. And as I mention at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what were your favourite moments from my podcast episodes of 2022. What stood out for you or maybe had you rethink your understanding of what a leader needs to do? Let me know as I appreciate hearing from my listeners about what resonated with them and why. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fLO2yCfToni8i2EAkRIDx Noteworthy links: #109 - Tom Peters & Jim Kouzes On Today’s Challenges And The Future Of Leadership #105 - Stephen MR Covey | How To Trust And Inspire Others To Unleash Their Greatness #101 - Dr. Marlette Jackson | Addressing Diversity And Inclusion In Today’s Workplaces #113 - Laura Kriska | How Leaders Close The Us Versus Them Gap In The Workplace #119 - Faisal Hoque | How To Lead Through Revolutionary Global Change

The last few weeks of the year mark a time when most leaders are busy working on getting the last of the year’s projects completed while at the same time looking at developing goals and strategies for the year to come. But this time of the year also marks an important opportunity for leaders to take stock of their leadership performance over the past 12 months. To examine and reflect on what they did well, what they need to change, and what unanswered needs will need to be addressed going forward. Of course, the caveat here is that leaders need to make the time to reflect on their past performance, as well as have a series of questions to help prompt their reflection process. That’s why for this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I want to share a year-end reflection exercise that every leader who’s interested in improving their craft should take the time to do. This reflection exercise will help you discover insights about your leadership over the past year and where you need to put your time and attention in the months ahead. As you prepare to wind down the year, I hope you’ll take some time to listen to this episode to help you reflect on what you need to address to do better going forward. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4cx5EAzpLw3vndMcjVZ9Ii?si=b2a3e9d3ed784303

I’m delighted and excited to welcome Tom Peters back to my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” for a third time, which means Tom now has made the most appearances on my podcast (we had a good laugh over it during our conversation). Tom wanted to come back on my show so we could talk about what will be his last book, “Tom Peters’ Compact Guide To Excellence”*. And as one would expect, during our conversation, Tom shares so many fantastic insights and thought-provoking ideas on a wide variety of timely issues facing leaders today. Just to give you an idea, some of the topics Tom and I discuss this time around include: * The on-going battle between employers and employees over hybrid work vs return to office (RTO). * The power and importance of kindness in today’s organizations. * Why leaders need to pay more attention to hiring. * The on-going tug-of-war over short-term earnings vs sustainability and doing something worthwhile. Being able to speak with Tom for a third time is a truly a gift, one that I’m delighted I can share with you as well. So I hope you’ll enjoy the insights – and laughs – to be found in my latest conversation with this leadership giant. https://open.spotify.com/episode/01dU6mKViLFyhUabxkstct?si=hegK9H54Sq2HzHe9BwPlhQ *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.